High performance. The buzz term du jour on LinkedIn and in the business community. The man who literally has a podcast on the topic has his doubts about whether people actually know its true meaning. Jake Humphrey is a former BBC and BT Sport presenter and the Founder of the Whisper Group, a multi-award-winning company...
Concerns grow about apprenticeship levy
The number of apprentices starting in small businesses has plummeted 49% since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017. That stark figure from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development was included in a new report that also revealed a fall in employer investment in training and apprenticeships, despite labour shortages in many UK...
What leaders can learn from the 2023 Rugby World Cup champions
South Africa was crowned Rugby World Cup champions for the fourth time in October 2023. The Springboks followed up their World Cup triumph in 2019 with a narrow 12-11 win over New Zealand, making them only the second team to win back-to-back titles. Full disclosure – as someone who grew up in Southern Africa and...
Unlocking the power of DE&I: A guide for SMEs
In this guest article, Amanda Cusdin, chief people officer at Sage, provides actionable steps on how SMEs can drive DE&I initiatives. The past three years have been a whirlwind for DE&I work: we’ve seen lots of big businesses sharing their DE&I plans in response to everything from George Floyd’s murder and the Covid-19 pandemic to...
Creating a buzz: Leading the push for diversity in financial services
In this guest article, Romi Savova, CEO at PensionBee, discusses the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It’s no secret that the financial services industry has a history of inadequate diversity. To this day, it remains dominated by men, with minority groups only in a small fraction of top positions. While the setting...
Navigating corporate transformation in a rapidly changing world
In this guest article, Jean-Philippe Grosmaitre, partner at L.E.K. Consulting, discusses how businesses can implement better digital innovation strategies. There is no escaping the fact that we have entered a new, more volatile, business environment in recent years. In times of uncertainty, businesses want to be as adaptable as they can be, and so conversations...
Who are the top sports stars turned entrepreneurs?
From David Lloyd and Danica Patrick to Shaquille O’Neal and Serena Williams, we profile 32 of the top sports stars turned entrepreneurs
Rituals, routines, habits: The blueprint for transforming your business growth
Pavlo Phitidis, entrepreneur, investor and co-founder & CEO of Aurik Business, covers mastering the art of time and attention investment. Once your business has achieved a ceiling of performance, how you invest your time and attention determines your future success. To understand how we invest our time and attention, we can look at the habits...
Race to carbon neutrality: Why UK and EU must look to China for affordable EVs
Distinguished professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Christopher Tang, reveals how Chinese-made EVs could help the UK and EU go green. Our earth is getting hotter. As the summer heat temperature rises, the UK and EU are transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce carbon emissions. To meet their ambitious EV adoption targets,...
The diplomatic dance: Germany’s de-risking plan sparks China tensions
Distinguished professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Christopher Tang, looks into Germany’s delicate balancing act with China. Amid the trade war and technology war between the United States and China, the German government used the term “de-risking” to describe its strategy on China in a 64-page report on July 13. After establishing a solid trade...
The leadership philosophy behind Roc Nation Sports
Roc Nation is an undisputed juggernaut. Since Hip-Hop icon Jay-Z founded the company primarily with the intent of signing pop and rap artists in 2008, Roc Nation has grown into the world’s preeminent entertainment company. Boasting clients such as Rihanna, DJ Khaled, Jess Glynne, and Alicia Keys, the company announced the formation of a game-changing...
Lewis Raymond Taylor’s journey from prison sentences to building a successful coaching empire
Adversity. A word associated with so many high-profile business figures since the dawn of time. James Dyson had 5,126 failed prototypes before coming up with his now legendary bagless vacuum. Self-made multi-millionaire Inger Ellen Nicolaisen, Founder of Nikita Hair, overcame being raised by an alcoholic father and being a homeless 15-year-old with a daughter to...
Customer-centricity in the connected era: overcoming five common challenges
In this guest article, Chiara Diana, chief design officer at frog discusses how to develop sustainable products and experiences with a net-positive impact on the environment. From smart watches to software-enabled vehicles, consumers are more connected than ever before. By 2030, the number of connected devices is projected to climb to 29.4 billion worldwide. Meanwhile,...
Winning on Purpose: The unbeatable strategy of loving customers
In his latest best-selling book, Fred Reichheld introduces NPS 3.0 as a way for companies to enrich the lives of their customers and generate good profits. This approach puts treating customers the way you would want to be treated at the centre of enduring business success. Reichheld provides examples of companies with superior NPS delivering...
The big thinker on a mission to change the future of work
I don’t think there are many organisational psychologists in this world that can claim to be endorsed as a Jedi by Mark Hamill. Professor John Amaechi OBE can. On top of this, John is also an award-winning, international best-selling author, a sought-after public speaker, an executive coach, and the Founder of APS Intelligence. John’s CV...
The rise of the chief of staff
Do you really know what a chief of staff is? You may think you do, but the reality is that a common view of the position is essentially that of a glorified Executive Assistant (EA). But what exactly is a chief of staff and is it worth having in your business? We find out… “The...
Going global: How European businesses can expand in 2023 – and beyond
In this guest article, Andy Lockhart, Vice President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa for Cloudflare, discusses how businesses can use technology to scale up their capabilities as they expand and how to tackle barriers like network usage and cloud egress fees. Despite the economic challenges and uncertainties of today’s business environment, there has never...
Is it too late for the UK to rejoin the EU?
In this guest opinion article, Helen Wong MBE, Corporate Solicitor at Setfords, consider whether it would ever be possible for the UK to rejoin the EU. Get Brexit Done was the UK’s call to take back control of laws, immigration and their direction in the political and business sphere. It promised a seismic shift such...
10 leadership trends you are likely to see in 2023
In this guest article, Thom Dennis, CEO of culture change and leadership development specialists, Serenity in Leadership, discusses his top ten leadership trends we are likely to experience in the following year. After another incredibly tumultuous year and a recession on its way, leaders have been trying to steady the ship to navigate through the...
What must Sunak’s government do to make the UK the”next Silicon Valley”?
In this guest article, Hadi Moussa, managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Coursera, offers a perspective on what Sunak’s government must do to ensure the UK can become the “next Silicon Valley.” As Rishi Sunak settles into Number 10, the UK waits to see which of his summer campaign pledges make it...
UK’s 33,955 scale-up businesses – who generate £1.2trn yearly to the UK economy – remain resilient report shows
Despite the headwinds, including concerns about rising costs and supply chain disruption, the UK’s 33,955 scale-up businesses – who generate £1.2tn yearly to the UK economy – representing 50% of the total turnover of the SME economy – remained resilient through the pandemic and are going for growth in 2023. Although concerned that the UK...
Finalists announced for the 2022 Scale-Up Awards
The finalists for the 2022 Scale-Up Awards have been announced today. Celebrating high-growth companies and the entrepreneurs running them, the Scale-Up Awards are the first and only awards focusing on the scale-up sector. Bringing together politicians, VIPs and business leaders from across the UK and the world to celebrate success and enterprise, this year’s event...
Why business leaders shouldn’t waste a recession
In this exclusive guest article, Will Brookes, the CEO of Raconteur, explains why he believes a recession presents opportunities for business leaders. As we teeter on the edge of what is predicted to be the deepest downturn since the 1970s, the words of former GE boss Jack Welch come to mind: “Never miss out on...
Evergrande cancels football stadium deal and receives $818m – will this stave off a collapse?
Chinese property giant Evergrande has cancelled a contract to buy land rights for a new football stadium, raising $818m for the debt-ridden firm. The stadium was for Guangzhou FC, a team that plays in the Chinese Super League and that Evergrande bought a controlling stake of in 2010. The move comes in spite of the...